To confer a pearly appearance to parts made of molded plastics material, it is known to incorporate an appropriate filler in the plastic.
Nevertheless, the flow lines of the material during molding usually remain visible on the part made in that way, which can be esthetically unpleasing.
Furthermore, the presence of the filler can give rise to problems with the part being fragile.
Also, to give a metallic appearance to parts made of molded plastics material, it is known to subject them to vacuum metallization or to immerse them in an electrolytic bath, but those techniques are relatively expensive to implement.
It is known that parts made of plastics material can be painted by spraying paint or varnish thereon, however that solution remains relatively expensive and can also give rise to environmental problems.
WO 95/13177 discloses a method in which the plastics material is initially injected into a mold cavity, and then the parts constituting the mold are moved relative to each other so as to leave a gap into which paint can be injected. That method requires a mold that is relatively complicated since the displacement of the component parts of the mold must be controlled accurately prior to injecting paint.
FR-A-2 729 886 discloses the method in which the plastics material is initially injected and then, before the core of the part has cooled down completely, paint is injected. The molded part is painted without opening the mold. The still-fluid core of the part is compressible and allows the paint which is injected under pressure to spread around the part. That method is relatively difficult to implement since the capacity for compression of the plastics material depends on the thickness of the non-solidified layer in the core of the part. The shape of the part must therefore be implemented accordingly, thereby complicating design.